Emma Korin in FX Whodunit – The Hollywood Reporter

FX and Hulu’s have a lot to say, a lot of the time A murder at the end of the world. His characters are supposed geniuses holed up in a retreat hosted by tech billionaire Andy (Clive Owen), who believes that “it’s the original thought, more than money, oil or water, that determines what happens.” Whether it will happen in the future. And so they roam about their remote Icelandic hotel throwing out big ideas, sharing their experiences, debating the finer points of climate change or monitoring, finding new ways to save the world. do

Yet what becomes clear, in ways that are mostly illuminating but occasionally frustrating, is how little any of this chatter means. At the heart of Burt Marling and Zil Batmangle’s moody mysteries is the bone-deep belief that what people claim to think matters less than what they actually feel and do. Because as it turns out, when one of the group dies on the first night of the week-long retreat, all the wealth and power and influence in the world is used to save humanity from its own humanity—our mortal bodies. Can do so much. , our hurt feelings, our dirty emotions.

If Andy represents a particularly haughty blend of Domism and tech optimism, he has a ready foil in protagonist Darby (Emma Koren). The 24-year-old hacker and amateur detective enters his rarefied circle as an outsider – “like a fresh page in an old court,” comments Andy, simultaneously complimentary and condescending. While Andy is eager to dismiss the tragedy as an accident, Darby is convinced it is murder. After all, she has experience with such things: her place at the retreat owes much to the critical success of her recent memoir, about a desperate serial killer with the help of her ex-boyfriend (Harris Dickinson Bill). What was the pursuit?

A murder at the end of the world Darby’s current case and the clockwork precision of Agatha Christie, borrowing equally from the coldness of Scandinavian noir and the romance of road trips in the American West, slip between the builder of his reputation. There’s a touch of sci-fi in the mix, too, as Andy introduces bits of technology that are a little beyond the edge of what’s possible at the moment — like a cutting-edge AI named Ray (Eduardo Ballerino) that Andy Presented as a collection. Personal Assistant, Teacher, Therapist.” Although the creators’ last TV project, Netflix’s oh ohThere is enough freshness to keep a curious viewer hooked.

In any mode, A murder at the end of the world Often beautiful to look at. Some of this can, of course, be down to the inherently photogenic intensity of Iceland’s wilderness. But it’s also thanks to Alex Dejardindo’s production design, which makes each run-down motel or luxury suite so real you can practically smell them, and the directors (Marling or Batmanghly) helped each episode. ) from the red of the coat against the snow to the dusty gold of a backwoods road in summer with an eye for distinctive, striking detail. As befits a story about a detective described as the “General Z Sherlock Holmes” of the universe, his camera is sensitive to the idiosyncrasies of his self-consciously specialized characters.

Some, like Andy or his wife (Marling), are deliberately difficult to read, as their tiniest interactions inform the performance. Others connect an entire inner universe through a private smile or a silent eye roll—Raul Esparza and Jermaine Fowler, as two guests, have a knack for popping out of the background.

No one is more competent than Darby himself. Corrin doesn’t just express disbelief or grief or curiosity; Their faces register every shade between every emotion as Darby works through them all. He is particularly affected by his romance with Dickinson’s Bill, who counters his toughness with disarming menace.

Have such carefully drawn characters. A murder at the end of the world Goes on some rough patches, including some uneven pacing and occasional heavy-handed interactions. Focusing on character also prevents themes from connecting as well as they could. Over seven episodes that are between 40 and 75 minutes long, the series explores a wide range of topics such as abuse and wealth inequality. However, only a few are tackled head-on, while others are relegated to scarlet hues or background color as the story increasingly leans towards more personal concerns.

But the emphasis on individuals over ideas ultimately reflects humanism. A murder at the end of the worldPerhaps most of this trend is not his anxiety about technology, but his self-awareness of the genre to which it belongs—often criticized for glorifying murderous masterminds. goes Like many on-screen sleuths before him, Darby suffers from a habit of caring too much about his cases. But she breaks them not by getting into the killer’s mind, but by understanding the victims. His obsession is not driven by a need for personal satisfaction, but by a burning desire to see justice done. When Bill suggests that he back off for his own good, Darby explodes in anger: “When we let someone die nameless and anonymous, we’re basically saying that we’re okay with it.” are.”

It’s a tricky thread needle, trying to make a whodunit that WHO In favor of the people behind This; Mileage will vary on how successfully you think it was removed. At its worst, the series pushes Andy’s way of talking about the Titans, circling around its gloomy central concerns and never seeming to get much anywhere for long periods of time. But at its best, it channels Darby’s anguish in a world that can feel unbearably beautiful one moment and unbearably painful the next. While Andy and his colleagues look to the future, A murder at the end of the world What is happening now makes a case for paying attention.